'Morning Joe' host Scarborough officially leaves GOP

by The Associated Press

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2017, file photo, MSNBC television anchor Joe Scarborough takes questions from an audience at forum at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. Scarborough announced Oct. 12, 2017, that he formally left the Republican party and became an independent. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

The "Morning Joe" anchor said on Twitter on Thursday that he became an independent and he added a picture of himself with an elections official in New Canaan, Connecticut, smiling while holding a form.

Scarborough announced that he would leave the party in July and accused Republicans of abandoning their fiscal principles. Scarborough has been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump, who has targeted Scarborough and his fiancee and co-host Mika Brzezinski on Twitter.

Scarborough was elected to four U.S. House terms from Florida starting in 1994.